Diana and me post-carnaval 
Had a lovely evening last night at Club Moda. Perfect post-exam event. Music, dancing, colorful costumes, a live band, and some good friends. I attended a Brazilian Carnaval in downtown Cleveland. It was AWESOME! The place was packed, we have some great performances by a band called Pimenta Malagueta (type of hot pepper from brazil), capoeira performers, Batucada drummers, samba dancers, and costumes. We danced all night and into the wee hours of the morning. It was really an amazing crowd. People would join in with the performers, everyone from age 20 to 50 seemed to know the samba nad at least some capoeira moves. I loved watching the capoeira performance, it looks like their dancing under water. I finally figured out how to samba too, lol took 4 hrs, but i think i have a basic handle on it. Everyone had such a good time. THere was even this funny little man on the dance floor. He must have been at least 60 yrs old, just shy of 5 feet. He was really dancing though! Samba is such an energetic dance too! He'd just wiggle his way into the middle of the dance floor and ask random young ladies to dance with him. Hehe..everytime I turned around he was turning some different young thing on the dance floor. We stayed til 2 then headed home...5 hrs later i headed to Cleveland Hopkins INternational and now I'm in San Antonio Texas for the week. Hope we get some sun.. ¶ 16:30

THERE was a roaring in the wind all night;
The rain came heavily and fell in floods;
But now the sun is rising calm and bright;
The birds are singing in the distant woods;
Over his own sweet voice the Stock-dove broods;
The Jay makes answer as the Magpie chatters;
And all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters.

All things that love the sun are out of doors;
The sky rejoices in the morning's birth;
The grass is bright with rain-drops;--on the moors
The hare is running races in her mirth;
And with her feet she from the plashy earth
Raises a mist, that, glittering in the sun,
Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run.

I was a Traveller then upon the moor,
I saw the hare that raced about with joy;
I heard the woods and distant waters roar;
Or heard them not, as happy as a boy:
The pleasant season did my heart employ:
My old remembrances went from me wholly;
And all the ways of men, so vain and melancholy.

But, as it sometimes chanceth, from the might
Of joy in minds that can no further go,
As high as we have mounted in delight
In our dejection do we sink as low;
To me that morning did it happen so;
And fears and fancies thick upon me came;
Dim sadness--and blind thoughts, I knew not, nor could name.
________________
This is an excerpt from one of wordsworth's poems. So many times in my life i found myself in these shoes...stuck between enjoying a moment (usually in a different country with dear friends)and the anticipation of the pain that comes with losing that moment and moving on. the rest of the poem takes an interesting turn...so I'm taking the liberty of using these first 4 stanzas slightly out of context... ¶ 23:12

From Class today: Nipples appear on Chest X-rays. Who knew? Guess you do learn something new everyday... ¶ 15:19

the sun is shining once again in the city of cleveland. I need to get out of here. 2 weeks and counting down the days to warm and sunny san antonio, Tx. Those cowpokes wont know what hit 'em when I arrive :P sitting at home, another busy weekend ahead. Never as productive as I'd like, but always suprisingly more productive than I expected. I'm off to see an indian movie tonight and afterwards perhaps I'll drop by the steiner house for dancho's debut as House VP (aka party planner). ¶ 16:03

Another wet and rainy day and another medical school exam squeaked by. Lately I've been trying to stabilize my life. Feel like one of those street performers on Venice Beach in Cali, juggling fruits, riding a unicycle, and trying to keep a smile on my face. I've been extremely fortunate in having many wonderful people support my juggling act. I haven't fallen yet. To all of you who've held me up- Thank you. (and for those of u who have let go....hehe....just joking). Friends are wonderful despite the dramas that opening your life to others often brings.
On to other matters...I was reminded by a colleague of mine of a paper I once read by Peter Unger, a Philosophy Professor at NYU. It made me think back to my class on metaphysics and once again made me wonder if it had any purpose at all. Peter unger is the author of such works as, "There are no ordinary things", "why there are no people", and my favorite, "I DO NOT EXIST". I looked him up and was suprised to find that he has rather changed his perspective from nothing existing to everything existing, even philosophizing fish and infinite other realities and this has further led to writings on more practical matters such as ethics and calls for a "highly demanding morality" in his book "living high and letting die". It's a book I've recently picked up in the library and it looks promising. It starts with the premises and theories metaphysics and complex symantecs and ends with lessons in simple decency. A sort of crazy complicated rationalization of how we respond to people in need. I dont know why I enjoy these things. I just do. No reason for this post either, just me...sometimes the rambling in my brain needs an outlet. :) ¶ 18:12

Flat Bull of Seville. You know that life is still good when they still make toys like this  ¶ 15:16